Can be downloaded from website lost in translation? The one-inch truth about Netflix’s subtitle problem Level

The funds that maintain the White House’s ‘museum quality’
Level: 
Intermediate
•PHOT
OCOPIABLE•
CAN BE DOWNLOADED
FROM WEBSITE
b. Use some of the key words above to complete these sentences. 
1. Joanne inherited a tiny but valuable 
from her grandmother.
2. I’m 
to say that we made the right decision.
3. It is expensive to 
big houses and keep them in the 
best condition.
4. My parents never used the 48-piece dinner 
they got for
their wedding.
5. The current US 
plans to make climate change a priority.

---

Published by Macmillan Education Ltd. © Macmillan Education Limited, 2021.
Home >> Adults >> General English >> NEWS LESSONS
The funds that maintain the White House’s ‘museum quality’
Level: 
Intermediate
•PHOT
OCOPIABLE•
CAN BE DOWNLOADED
FROM WEBSITE
Donations, fees and sales: the 
funds that maintain the White 
House’s ‘museum quality’
David Smith
3 March, 2021
Jackie Kennedy first visited the White House as 
a girl. It was a boring experience. “There wasn’t 
even a booklet you could buy,” she told Life 
magazine. When she became First Lady, she 
started transforming it into a mansion worthy of 
a president – but someone had to pay.
In 1961, Jackie Kennedy founded the White 
House Historical Association (WHHA) to 
protect, preserve and give public access to 
America’s most famous address. Three years 
later, President Lyndon B Johnson created the 
Committee for the Preservation of the White 
House, a group of experts who work to keep 
the “museum quality” of its public spaces.
The former First Lady Barbara Bush set up the 
White House Endowment Trust, which is used 
for public rooms and conserving collections. 
The White House Acquisition Trust is used to 
buy fine and decorative arts. Both trusts receive 
money from the WHHA, which gets money from 
private donations, membership fees and retail 
sales, including an annual Christmas ornament.
Stewart McLaurin, president of the WHHA, said 
it received about $7m from donors in 2020. 
“People give to us to help maintain the White 
House, not because of any particular president 
or political party. Our donors are all across the 
country from all walks of life; not just politically 
active people but people who are interested in 
historic preservation and American history.”
Changes to the White House’s first floor and 
ground floor, which contains the State Dining 
Room, Green Room, Blue Room and others, 
are made in agreement with the White House 
curator and the Committee for the Preservation 
of the White House. First Ladies usually to play 
an active role.
McLaurin added: “Every First Lady takes on 
two, four, five projects.
1
2
3
4
5
6
“Laura Bush did the Lincoln Bedroom and the 
library. Michelle Obama did the State Dining 
Room and the Old Family Dining Room, also 
on the state floor. The Red Room was the 
most important project we did with the Trump 
administration.”
Between 2012 and 2015, the State Dining 
Room was given a major upgrade, with the 
White House Endowment Trust picking up the 
$590,000 cost. Designers and materials were 
selected by Michelle Obama, the First Lady, 
and the preservation committee.
The Associated Press reported: “Silk draperies 
with vertical stripes of blue and light brown 
replace curtains made of white silk and 
designed with flowers, baskets and ribbons. 
The blue in the draperies is the same as the 
‘Kailua’ blue on the china service and reminds 
us of the waters that surround President Barack 
Obama’s home state of Hawaii.”
The White House Endowment Trust only deals 
with renovations within the White House walls. 
McLaurin said he did not know who paid for 
solar panels installed by Jimmy Carter or a 
tennis court adapted by Barack Obama so it 
could be used for both tennis and basketball.
In 2020, Melania Trump opened a new tennis 
pavilion on the south grounds of the White 
House. It was constructed in partnership with 
the Trust for the National Mall and the National 
Park Service and funded by private donations.
The WHHA, meanwhile, remains proud of its 
links to Jackie Kennedy. McLaurin said: “I’m 
constantly amazed. She was 31 when her 
husband was elected president of the United 
States and she served as First Lady for less 
than three years, but the process and the 
procedures that she put in place in the early 
60s still govern historic preservation and 
maintain the museum standard of the White 
House today, 60 years later.”
© Guardian News and Media 2021 
First published in The Guardian, 03/03/2021
7
8
9
10
11
12

---

Published by Macmillan Education Ltd. © Macmillan Education Limited, 2021.
Home >> Adults >> General English >> NEWS LESSONS